Release
by Ice Raider
Summary: What if Artemis and the LEP had never become so friendly. What if the troll incident had gone wrong. What if Artemis Fowl lost his grip on sanity. What if Holly Short searched her heart...Holly/Artemis.


Release  
  
What if Artemis Fowl and the LEP had never become so friendly, what if they went to war against each other? What if the world had been a little insane,  
a little crazy, and a little deadly.  
  
Tragedy/Romance  
  
"If you're a good boy I'll give you a Lollipop when I get back." Said Captain Holly Short as she jacked a new power cell into her blaster and aimed it at Artemis. "Or, then again, why don't I just put you out of your misery. That punch looked painful."  
  
Artemis glared over the gun barrel at her. She smirked. "Time to die, Fowl." Artemis screamed and slammed into her, pushing her on to the ground. This was too much. Nobody bested Artemis Fowl. Nobody. The combined force of his Mother's escalating insanity and this catastrophe had hit him.  
  
He grabbed Holly's blaster and fired. The fairy dodged the blast and flung open the steel door. Artemis fired the gun continually, then turned back to the monitors, his eyes blazing. On screen the doors blew open.  
  
The troll slid its tusks into Butler, slicing his skin open. He fell to the ground, dead. Juliet was jolted out of the Mesmer and she leapt toward the troll, arms raised. It tossed her aside and ran up the stairs.  
  
Artemis was in shock. Butler and Juliet, both dead. Both of them. His only true friends, gone. Something else caught his eye. The Mam cam. Angeline was reaching for the glass containing narcotics, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the huge creature which had just barged into her room. She stared at it blankly as the troll reached forward with its claws.  
  
"NO! NO! NO!" screamed Artemis. He grabbed the Neutrino and charged out of the room and down the stairs, through a tiny steel door, and into the garage. The Bentley was waiting for him, its chrome shining in the light.  
  
Artemis leapt into the car. He had been able to drive since he was four, nothing hard about it. He started the Bentley and accelerated it out of the garage. Surprised Fairies scattered and the Bentley flew through the time stop portal as a large missile sailed into the lobby.  
  
Several Years Later  
  
Artemis pulled the Bentley into Fowl Manor drive. After a few months he had finally gained the courage to revisit his home. Someone was waiting for him. He always wore mirrored sunglasses, though.  
  
Holly Short took aim at Artemis. "I should kill you now, Fowl. After all you've done." Artemis ran. He pounded up the steps of his home and into the foyer. "YOU WILL NEVER ENTER MY HOME AS LONG AS ANY FOWL LIVES! NEVER! NEVER" He began to laugh insanely as he drew a blaster, took aim and fired.  
  
War had been declared as far as both sides were concerned. Artemis was crazy, and Holly was just shooting, nothing but orders. Kill Fowl as painfully as possible and she'd get a promotion. Artemis fired again and again, always missing.  
  
Then Holly raised her blaster, she reached for the trigger, but a part of her brain was stopping her.  
  
Orders! Screamed one side. You love him! Cried the other. KILL HIM! SAVE HIM!!! KILL HIM!! SAVE HIM!!! Just then another voice rang in her ears, cold and calm, broken only by slight coughs. Commander Root.  
  
He had been gored by the troll, and even though magic had healed his wound, his own mind was now destroying him from the inside out, the trauma too great for any one person to stand. He knew it, too, tried to stop it, he even had sane moments, but eventually the trauma kicked back in.  
  
"Short. This is my dying wish. Kill Artemis Fowl. If you don't, I have four men waiting in the bushes.  
  
Holly gazed with love at Artemis, who was staring back. She whispered one word. "Heal." Blue sparks danced through the air and came to rest on Artemis' skin. They seeped in, curing his madness.  
  
He turned to her. "Holly."  
  
"GODDAMMIT, SHORT!" Yelled Root. Trouble Kelp stepped out of the bushes behind Holly. They had dated for a while, but Trouble's first priority had been keeping the council happy. Even if it meant sleeping with Vinyaya.  
  
He raised his blaster and aimed at Artemis. The boy genius' eyes widened and he reached a hand out to Holly.  
  
Trouble fired. The blast hit Artemis in the chest. He groaned and touched the wound. He drew his hand away, covered in blood, and then he fell to the ground.  
  
Holly gasped and ran to his fallen body. She placed a hand on his weakly beating heart, then placed her lips to his and kissed the only man she'd ever truly loved. Then, with fire in her eyes she turned on the four LEP officers now standing behind her. She raised her weapon and fired a volley of blasts, without caring who they hit.  
  
Trouble screamed and fell, as did another of the officers. The remaining two returned fire. One of the blasts caught Holly in a lung. A second hit her direct centre in the chest, and a third in the other lung. There would be no hope for her now, the magic would be useless. She would suffer the same fate as Trouble, whose body lay motionless.  
  
She lifted her weapon, and, with fading eyesight, pumped blasts endlessly at the two officers. They fell, dead, and then Holly Short lay down beside Artemis, wrapped her arms around him, pressed her lips to his in one last kiss, jammed the blaster against her chest, and pulled the trigger. Her death. Her release. 


End file.
